Depression in mothers and the externalizing and internalizing behavior of children: An attempt to go beyond association.
Depression in mothers and the externalizing and internalizing behavior of children: An attempt to go beyond association.
复制标题
DOI：
10.1037/abn0000640
复制
发表时间：
2021-01
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Shaw DS
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Pelham WE;West SG;Lemery-Chalfant K;Goodman SH;Wilson MN;Dishion TJ;Shaw DS
Hundreds of studies have documented an association between depression in mothers and behavior problems in children. Theory and empirical findings suggest this association may be confounded by other factors, but little attention has been paid to this issue. We used propensity score methods in a sample of 731 low-income families assessed repeatedly from child age 2 through 14 years to produce a weighted sample of families that were similar at child age 3 years except for mothers’ depression. Depressive symptomatology was measured via self-report rating scale. Mothers were categorized as having clinically-elevated vs. non-clinically-elevated scores based on an established threshold. Mothers with elevated vs. non-elevated scores were equated on 89 other relevant characteristics (e.g., SES, child behavior, marital conflict). We then compared the equated groups on mother, secondary caregiver, and teacher ratings of child externalizing and internalizing behavior from child ages 4 to 14 years. Prior to equating, the mean prima facie effect of exposure to clinically-elevated mothers’ depression scores at child age 3 years was d=0.45 per mothers, d=0.26 per secondary caregivers, and d=0.13 per teachers. After equating, the mean adjusted effect was d = 0.07 per mothers, d=0.01 per secondary caregivers, and d=0.03 per teachers. Findings suggest that a substantial portion of the prima facie association between mothers’ depression and later child behavior problems is accounted for by confounding variables rather than a causal effect of depressive symptoms per se. To fully understand why children of depressed mothers exhibit more behavior problems, a multicausal theory is needed that jointly considers the cluster of co-occurring clinical features that often accompany maternal depression. Children whose mothers reported clinically elevated symptoms of depression at child age 3 years exhibited more externalizing and internalizing behavior between ages 4 and 14 than children whose mothers did not report clinically significant symptoms of depression. Yet, when families with depressed vs. non-depressed mothers were equated on many background variables, the size of the difference shrank substantially. Studies exploring developmental processes that link mothers’ depression to children’s behavior problems may produce misleading results when they do not account for the many ways in which families with depressed and non-depressed mothers differ.
登录
查看更多内容
影响因子：
3.8
作者：
Cook, Thomas D.;Shadish, William R.;Wong, Vivian C.
通讯作者：
Wong, Vivian C.
影响因子：
4.6
作者：
CRNIC, KA;GREENBERG, MT;BASHAM, RB
通讯作者：
BASHAM, RB
影响因子：
7
作者：
Cham, Heining;West, Stephen G.
通讯作者：
West, Stephen G.
影响因子：
7
作者：
Cook, Thomas D.;Zhu, Naixin;Thomas, Jaime
通讯作者：
Thomas, Jaime
影响因子：
2.1
作者：
Arriaga, RI;Fenson, L;Pethick, SJ
通讯作者：
Pethick, SJ